【Advancement】 , 【Preferment】 , 【Promotion】 and 【Elevation】 designate the act of raising a person in grade, rank, or dignity, or the honor that comes to one who is so raised.

【Advancement】 is the general term of widest application.

• lose all hope of 【advancement】

【Preferment】 especially in older use often comes close to 【advancement】 .

• ’tis the curse of service, 【preferment】 goes by letter and affection, and not by old gradation, where each second stood heir to the first
  —Shak.

It now more often implies choice, especially from a series of candidates or possibilities.

• a military record was the surest road to military 【preferment】 among vigorous frontiersmen
  —Coulter
• obedience spelled 【preferment】 in the civil service
  —Schumpeter)

【Promotion】 , usually but not invariably, implies gradation or raising according to a fixed plan, often involving the passing of tests or the meeting of qualifications. It is the specific word in education to designate the end-of-the-term advance of pupils to a higher grade or in any field where members of a force or staff are given positions of higher rank with increased remuneration.

【Elevation】 is applicable only when the 【advancement】 carries marked increase in honor or dignity.

• the prime minister’s 【elevation】 to the peerage
• the bishop’s 【elevation】 to the cardinalate
• the many men of talent who owed their 【elevation】 to Wolsey
  —Froude